Civil Service Exam's Resource Center

Feb 18, 2008

Officers in the IAS join in the Junior Time Scale. After 4 years of service they are promoted to the Senior Time Scale which is equivalent to an Under Secretary of Govt of India, after 9 years they are promoted to the Junior Administrative Grade when they can be placed as Deputy Secretaries to Govt of India. After completing 13 years of service, they are granted the Selection Grade when they can be placed as Directors in Govt of India. The ranks after that are - Joint Secretary (GOI), Additional Secretary (GOI) and Secretary (GOI) which is the highest rank carrying the basic pay of Rs 26,000. Then there is the Cabinet Secretary (only one in India) who carries a basic pay of Rs 30,000. The State Governments however have a kind of a leverage to post these officers. Normally when an IAS officer joins the State, he is placed as a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). Ideally he is to be made in charge of a District after completing 9 years of service and entering the Junior Administrative Grade but in certain States, even younger IAS officers are made in charge of Districts (Known as District Magistrates (DM), Deputy Commissioners (DCs) or Collectors).

Feb 4, 2008

The Kothari Committee of the UPSC, has listed the qualities that should be rated in the interview as, ''clarity of expression, grasp of narrative and argument, reasoning ability, appreciation of different points of view, awareness and concern for socio-economic problems, ranges and depth of interests and personal attributes relevant to interaction with people.''

The Interview for the civil services examination also known as the Personality Test is exactly that. It is aimed at assessing the candidate’s personality, whether he is suitable to be a competent administrator or not. The candidate is tested not only for his/her intelligence but also for his/her overall personality development, his/her attentiveness, balance of judgement and qualities of honesty, integrity and leadership. Therefore preparation for the Interview requires proper planning.

The selectors look out for some attributes in the candidate and decide whether he/she is suited for a career in civil services or not. For this,the candidate should have a positive attitude, should have an alert mind with quick reflexes, should be free from any sort of prejudice, should be good at making quick decisions and should have the ability to act under stress and to handle difficult situations.

Preparation for the Interview is a continuous process.

This involves a wide reading of books, journals, magazines and at least two newspapers. One should try to improve his/her conversational skills with the right pronunciation. The candidate should be prepared to answer questions on his background, hobbies and extra curricular activities. It is a good idea to discuss current affairs and recent issues with friends. One good way of rehearsing possible questions would be to have mock interviews and discussion groups. The candidate should make a self analysis of his strengths and weaknesses and make a conscious effort to play on his strengths.

Some useful tips for a successful interview at UPSC are:

To have a positive body language

To have a good personal turnout and ensuring the right posture

To answer questions clearly and confidently

Try to remain calm and composed even when faced with provocative questions

Try not getting into long winded explanations and answer to the point.

Things To Be Avoided at the UPSC Interview

Avoid technical jargon. However, if a member continues to probe you in any technical field, you can use technical expressions.

Maintain a cheerful disposition. Now and then you can appear serious; but most of the time keep smiling or look cheerful and composed. One caution here: if the board laughs, you should only smile. It is only when you maintain some amount of distance that the board begins to wonder about the depth of your personality.

Do not give long introductions. Come straight to the heart of the matter.

Show human concern whenever possible in your answers.

You should be logically consistent and analyse things rationally while talking. You are supposed to defend what you say, but with due respect to the views of the board. Stop trying to defend an answer if it becomes difficult to do so logically and fairly.

Do not make hasty or sweeping generalisations.

According to UPSC report, it has been observed that from 1979 onwards, 90 percent of the candidates who qualify for interview hover around the minimal percentage of 55 percent that is prescribed for the test. However to be assured of a Class I service, one has to generally obtain about 58 percent marks. It has been noticed that only those, securing 60 percent and above are sure of getting a service of their own choice. The figures clearly reveal that the marks in the interview test play a determining role in final selection of candidates.

Types of questions asked at the UPSC interview.

Relating to your name. Any famous personality who has a similar or same name or surname.

Your career choice. Why you want to opt for the civilservices.

Your Hobbies. Why you pursue such a hobby or questions related to your hobby. So reasearch well on your hobby.

Hot topics of recent days like the Bird Flu and Tamiflu, Office of Profit, Sahara airlines deal and the growing airlines,Terror attacks in India, India US Nuclear deal, Commonwealth games, Saurav Ganguly etc. Keep reading and watching the news. If the recent headlines have something to do with your subject then specially revise those portions. For example if you are a veterinary doctor, Bird flu may go on to other animal diseases that can infect men. If you are an MBBS, then you might be asked about human to human spread of epidemics or any other epidemics and precautions etc. You may even be asked about the influence of MNC or drug manufacturers responsible for the spread of fear etc. If you are from an economy background, the same topic will veer towards the economic implications of the Bird flu.

How you are going to use your specific knowledge(like if you are a doctor, lawyer, engineer etc) in the services.

Situational questions. Like If you were the collector/SP of Varanasi, what would you do after the Bomb Blast?

Choice of services. The order of your choice of services can raise questions too.

About your institution and related.If you have studies at IIM you may be asked about the rising salaries, if from IGNOU then even about Indira Gandhi and so on.

From your form. You must go through the form you have filled because most questions will arise from there. If you have changed subjects, mentioned anything out of the way, watch out for questions on them. Interviewers take cue from the form you have filled.

Some actual questions asked of UPSC candidates.

Don't you think you can serve your country better by remaining a doctor and treating poor patients? Why do you want to be a civil servant?"It would be best to answer this question very practically rather than emotionally saying you want to serve the country, because even a doctor serves the people. A doctor from Kerala was asked this Question and her reply was - "Because I want to treat the primary malady that afflicts our country, that creates so many poor in India. As a doctor I can treat only secondary maladies." She even came up with exact statistics and suggestions on a rubber plantation for poverty alleviation indicating that she had spent considerable time and thoughts on her future plans. She was awarded a score of 85 per cent.

"What are the problems faced by wheat cultivators in your state?" an M.Sc. (Agriculture) student from Palanpur was once asked. "The problem is not so much to do with agronomy but with the lack of a seed bank in Palanpur," came the reply and the candidate walked away with an 80 per cent score.

"Is there a law in physics, which is relevant to administration?" a law graduate was prompted. "Yes. Newton's third law of motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." He scored a cool 80 per cent.

The above questions can give you an idea of how relevant questions are asked from your subjects even as they are not directly from the syllabus.

Even though the interview carries 300 marks with no minimum qualifying marks, it is the deciding factor at many times of your being within the services or out of it and in the least matters in which service you get. However since the interview is so personal and variable it is most desirable to do very well in the written mains. But an Interview can make or break you so take your personality development rather seriously and make sure to attend some mock interviews at leading institutes.

UPSC Interview Questions

UPSC Interview questions range from questions about your choice of subject to why you want to join the civil services. It is good to answer honestly but at the same time avoid cliches like wanting to do service to the nation etc. Questions on your hobbies are imperative so prepare well as they expect some indepth knowledge on that. Questions relating to your name, your college or school name are also a big posibility. If someone well-know shares one of these names please also prepare on that. Also learn up about important events on the year or date of your birth. As you can see, UPSC Interview questions are mainly from what you have filled in your form including your subject but here it is more a test of logic and presentation and awareness rather than pure subject knowledge. In the UPSC interview many questions are situational like what will you do if a Tsunami strikes your district and you are the DM/Collector/SP. Questions on your choice of service preference also need to be prepared. Current affairs analysis is important too.

Tips to improve your performance at the UPSC Interview

There are generally 5 members at the board with the Chairperson seated at the center. Enter confidently and greet the Chairperson, who will probably welcome you, and pleasantly nod at other members. Wait till you are asked to sit.

Intelligent listing is the mantra, and for this maintaining eye contact is very important. You should not glare but all the same appear attentive and do not glance at other members, it can be very distracting for the interviewer. However if some other member asks you anything, look at that member and answer and turn back to the first - this is what we do in normal attentive listening.

Do not fidget or throw your hands around, or shake your head. Less amount of movement does not mean you should sit unnaturally stiff. Your posture should be attentive and relaxed at the same time. Do not crouch/bend forward or place your hands on the table.

Cut your answer short to the required patience shown by the member talking to you. They usually like to talk more, so listen carefully and think for a few seconds before you start answering the question. This will show that you are organising your thoughts in mind before starting to speak.

Leave some room for difference in opinion. Do take a stand, but do not look adamant or unwilling to appreciate the board's opinion.

Use couple of words from the question while answering any question. It shows you have listened to the question carefully. But at the same time limit the use the technical jargon.

Listen very carefully. Come to the central issue of the enquiry immediately. Wild guessing or speculation are a complete no no.

Do not start evaluating your performance while still inthe interview. Even if you have committed mistakes in the beginning, do not think that you have already lost the game. They are looking for warm, sensitive respectful and attentive youngsters. They know you are good or you would not have come so far.

Talk humbly about your achievements and hobbies. You may have mentioned some hobbies in the form without serious background in them, but before the interview it would be useful to pick up some basic info on the hobby.

Say less to convey more. Less is more these days as per the minimalist creed. Argue logically and generalise correctly. Do not try to read too much between the lines.

Remember, while answering any question, what is easy to see is easy to miss. We often tend to miss the obvious and go for some non-crucial aspect of the subject.

Get up to leave only when the chairperson asks you to, not because you think everyone has asked a question. Similarly, even if someone has not asked a question and the chairperson asks you to leave then please leave. Some members do not ask questions at all, due to various reasons like limited time.

Before leaving politely thank the chairperson and nod at the others politely. Avoid saying "Have a good day sir". A "Thank you Sir/Madam" is enough.